Nick Foles and the Philadelphia Eagles outshoot the New England Patriots for their first Super Bowl, 41-33

MINNEAPOLIS — The Philadelphia Eagles’ flight from last to first ended up with a Lombardi Trophy.

In a record-setting shootout between Nick Foles and Tom Brady, the backup quarterback led a pressure-packed 75-yard drive to the winning touchdown, 11 yards to Zach Etrz with 2:21 to go Sunday night. Then a defence that had been shredded throughout the second half made two final stands to win 41-33.

Then Brady got his team to midfield before his desperation pass fell to the ground in the end zone.

It was the first Super Bowl title for Philadelphia (16-3), which went from 7-9 last season to its first NFL crown since 1960.

Foles orchestrated it with the kind of drive NFL MVP Brady, a five-time champion, is known for. It covered 75 yards on 14 plays, and had to survive a video replay because Ertz had the ball pop into the air as he crossed the goal line.

The touchdown stood — and so did thousands of green-clad Eagles fans who weren’t going to mind the frigid conditions outside US Bank Stadium once they headed out to celebrate.

The Patriots (15-4) seemed ready to take their sixth championship with Brady and coach Bill Belichick in eight Super Bowls. Brady threw for a game-record 505 yards and three TDs, hitting Rob Gronkowski for 4 yards. Stephen Gostkowski’s extra point gave New England its first lead, 33-32.

Then Foles made them forget Carson Wentz — and least for now — with the gutsiest drive of his life.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.